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I did something different today, I just went for a ride.  No big destination, no race to attend, no nothing.  I just went out and took a ride and turned a few times.  I ended up finding myself riding though the Gila Indian reservation and before I knew it, I was close to Firebird Raceway.  I stopped over and said hi to a few friends who were out for a trackday.   My race bike is down for the summer to give me a chance to do something else but race and be competitive.

While hanging out at the trackday, a very unfortunate turn of events happened.  Seems a guy was out on his rather new Yamaha R1 and for some reason had a get off.  Well it seems his R1 fell to the problem that many Yamaha R6’s have fallen to, a fuel tank leak.  I am totally guessing this, it could have been that one of the tires burned up or something like that.  In my guess if the fire was bad enough to destroy the rear wheel and melt a bunch of parts, it probably was fuel related.  I felt for the guy, as $10,000+ investment went up in flames in a few seconds.  I hope the insurance or Yamaha will come to his aid.

So I said my goodbyes to my racing friends, got back on my blue ST1300 and headed home.  I am getting better with the heat as when I got home it was in the high 90’s.  The Joe Rocket phoenix jacket and pants kept me comfortable and fashionably safe, my weight loss (30+ lbs in the past 5 months) has made all my gear fit better.  I parked the ST1300 in the garrage, the fuel tank nearly empty and in need of another bike wash, I think it’s been over a year since I washed it last.

So all is good in the world, I did something with a motorcycle that did not include number plates and VP racing fuel.  I realized why I can’t part with my street bike as that huge ST1300 is just so darn comfortable.  The ST1300 needs a service, and In July I will take it over to my local Honda Dealer to be service.  I think I will get a new rear shock and take the front forks over to my suspension guy to have them worked on.  Maybe I will upgrade the brakes to Vesrah pads, since the ST just does not stop like my race bikes… I think… I think… I think I will keep riding on the street.